The Man Who Knew Bin Laden

Khalid Al-Jhani was, at one time, an explosives trainer for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan and now he’s leading an almost normal life. How could that be?

It’s quite a story – one that UN producer Francis Mead explored in Saudi Arabia with videographer Antonio Tibaldi. Together they filmed a short documentary which focuses on how and why people leave terror groups. In recent years Saudi Arabia has developed an innovative rehab programme for people like Khalid Al-Jhani – and their new approach is drawing attention from around the world.

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Here, in a short extract from the UNTV documentary, Al-Jhani describes being on the run with Osama Bin Laden not long after 9/11:

Francis and Antonio met Al-Jhani – and found him charismatic, engaging and funny. But he was involved with the world’s best-known terrorist, and became an expert in electronic circuits for bombs. He told many stories about his time in Afghanistan, his 4 year incarceration in Guantanamo, and the pioneering Saudi rehab programme for young men accused of links with terror groups.

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In this brief clip, Producer Francis Mead says that Al-Jhani’s story provokes questions about the motives of young men who end up with terror groups: